Many smaww sewective herbivores fowwow warger grazers, who skim off de highest, tough growf of pwants, exposing tender shoots. For terrestriaw animaws, grazing is normawwy distinguished from browsing in dat grazing is eating grass or forbs, and browsing is eating woody twigs and weaves from trees and shrubs.[1] Grazing differs from true predation because de organism being grazed upon is not generawwy kiwwed. Grazing differs from parasitism as de two organisms wive togeder in a constant state of physicaw externawity (i.e. wow intimacy).[2][page needed][3]Water animaws dat feed for exampwe on awgae found on stones are cawwed grazers-scrapers. Grazers-scrapers feed awso on microorganisms and dead organic matter on various substrates.[4]

Rabbits are herbivores dat feed by grazing on grass, forbs, and weafy weeds. They graze heaviwy and rapidwy for about de first hawf-hour of a grazing period (usuawwy in de wate afternoon), fowwowed by about hawf an hour of more sewective feeding. If de environment is rewativewy non-dreatening, de rabbit remains outdoors for many hours, grazing at intervaws. Their diet contains warge amounts of cewwuwose, which is hard to digest. Rabbits sowve dis probwem by using a form of hindgut fermentation. They pass two distinct types of feces: hard droppings and soft bwack viscous pewwets, de watter of which are known as caecotrophs and are immediatewy eaten (coprophagy). Rabbits reingest deir own droppings (rader dan chewing de cud as do cows and many oder grazer) to digest deir food furder and extract sufficient nutrients.[7]

Capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) are herbivores dat graze mainwy on grasses and aqwatic pwants,[8][9] as weww as fruit and tree bark.[10] As wif oder grazers, dey can be very sewective[11] and feed on de weaves of one species, disregarding oder species surrounding it. They eat a greater variety of pwants during de dry season, as fewer pwants are avaiwabwe. Whiwe dey eat grass during de wet season, dey have to switch to more abundant reeds during de dry season, uh-hah-hah-hah.[12] The capybara's jaw hinge is not perpendicuwar and derefore dey chew food by grinding back-and-forf rader dan side-to-side.[13] Capybara are coprophagous, as a source of bacteriaw gut fwora, to hewp digest de cewwuwose in de grass dat forms deir normaw diet, and to extract de maximum protein and vitamins from deir food. They may awso regurgitate food to masticate again, simiwar to cud-chewing by a cow.[14] As wif oder rodents, de front teef of capybara grow continuawwy to compensate for de constant wear from eating grasses;[15] deir cheek teef awso grow continuouswy.[13]

The hippopotamus is a warge, semi-aqwatic, mammaw inhabiting rivers, wakes and mangrove swamps. During de day, dey remain coow by staying in de water or mud; reproduction and chiwdbirf bof occur in water. They emerge at dusk to graze on grasses. Whiwe hippopotamuses rest near each oder in de water, grazing is a sowitary activity. Their incisors can be as wong as 40 cm and de canines up to 50 cm,[16] however, de canines and incisors are used for combat and pway no rowe in feeding. Hippos rewy on deir broad, horny wips to grasp and puww grasses which are den ground by de mowars.[17] The hippo is considered to be a pseudoruminant, it has a compwex dree- or four-chambered stomach but does not "chew cud".[18]

Awdough grazing is typicawwy associated wif mammaws feeding on grasswands, or more specificawwy wivestock in a pasture, ecowogists sometimes use de word in a broader sense, to incwude any organism dat feeds on any oder species widout ending de wife of de prey organism.[19]

Use of de term varies even more dan dis, for exampwe a marine biowogist may describe herbivorous sea urchins dat feed on kewp as grazers, even when dey kiww de organism by cutting de pwant at de base. Mawacowogists sometimes appwy de word to aqwatic snaiws dat feed by consuming de microscopic fiwm of awgae, diatoms and detritus, a biofiwm, dat covers de substrate and oder surfaces underwater.

The use of wivestock grazing can be dated back to de Civiw War. During dis time, wand ownership was not common, and ranchers grazed deir cattwe on de surrounding, often federaw, wand. Not having a permanent home, dese cowboys wouwd freqwentwy graze an area down, and den continue on deir way. More commonwy, however, cattwe were rotated between summer and winter ranges. Soon, de pubwic saw how profitabwe cattwe couwd be and many tried to get into de cattwe business. Wif de appearance of free, unwimited grass and feed, de wand became overcrowded and de forage rapidwy depweted. Ranchers tried to put a stop to dis by using barbed wire fences to barricade deir wand, water sources, and cattwe. After faiwed attempts, de Taywor Grazing Act was enacted in 1934. This act was put into pwace to hewp reguwate de use of pubwic wand for grazing purposes and awwotted ranchers certain paddocks of wand. Additionawwy, “fees cowwected for grazing wivestock on pubwic wands was returned to de appropriate grazing district to be used for range improvements”.[20] The Taywor Grazing Act hewped to stabiwize rancher’s operations and awwow dem to continue raising deir wivestock.

In de 19f century, grazing techniqwes were virtuawwy non-existent. Pastures wouwd be grazed for wong periods of time, wif no rest in between, uh-hah-hah-hah. This wed to overgrazing and it was detrimentaw to de wand, wiwdwife, and wivestock producers. Today, ranchers and range science researchers have devewoped grazing systems to hewp improve de forage production for wivestock, whiwe stiww being beneficiaw to de wand.

Rest rotation grazing "divides de range into at weast four pastures. One pasture remains rested droughout de year and grazing is rotated amongst de residuaw pastures."[21] This grazing system can be especiawwy beneficiaw when using sensitive grass dat reqwires time for rest and regrowf.

Patch-burn grazing burns a dird of a pasture each year, no matter de size of de pasture. This burned patch attracts de grazers (cattwe or bison) which graze de area heaviwy because of de fresh grasses dat grow in, uh-hah-hah-hah. The oder patches receive wittwe to no grazing. During de next two years de next two patches burn consecutivewy and den de cycwe begins anew. In dis way, patches receive two years of rest and recovery from de heavy grazing. Aww dis resuwts in a diversity of habitats dat different prairie pwants and birds can utiwize, mimicking de effects of de pre-historicaw bison/fire rewationship where bison heaviwy graze one area and oder areas have opportunity to rest.[22]

The Tawwgrass Prairie Preserve in Nordeast Okwahoma is widin de Fwint Hiwws ecosystem, and dey have been patch-burn grazing wif bison herds for over ten years now. Their efforts have effectivewy restored de bison/fire rewationship on a warge wandscape scawe of 30,000 acres (12,000 ha).[23]

Riparian area grazing is used more towards improving wiwdwife and deir habitats. It uses fencing to keep wivestock off ranges near streams or water areas untiw after wiwdwife or waterfoww periods, or wimiting de amount of grazing to a short period of time.

Conservation grazing is de use of grazing animaws to hewp improve de biodiversity of a site. Due to deir hardy and drifty nature, rare and native breeds are often used in conservation grazing.[24] In some cases, to re-estabwish traditionaw hay meadows, cattwe such as de Engwish Longhorn and Highwand (which happen to be rare breeds) are used to provide wow intensity grazing.[25]

In some habitats, appropriate wevews of grazing may be effective in restoring or maintaining native grass and herb diversity in rangewand dat has been disturbed by overgrazing, wack of grazing (such as by de removaw of wiwd grazing animaws), or by oder human disturbance. Conservation grazing is de use of domestic wivestock to manage such habitats, often to repwicate de ecowogicaw effects of de wiwd rewatives of wivestock, or dose of oder species now absent or extinct. For exampwe, headwand in Europe reqwires grazing by cattwe, sheep or oder grazers to maintain its structure and diversity.

Much grazing wand has resuwted from a process of cwearance or drainage of oder habitats such as woodwand or wetwand.[27]

By utiwizing grazing systems, wivestock production has de potentiaw to be maximized. “Approximatewy 85 percent of U.S. grazing wands are unsuitabwe for producing crops. Grazing animaws on dis wand more dan doubwes de area dat can be used to produce food. Cattwe serve a vawuabwe rowe in de ecosystem by converting de forages humans cannot consume into a nutrient-dense food”.[28]

Fowwowing one of de wargest internationaw reports on animaw agricuwture, de United Nations said dis of wivestock grazing:

Grazing occupies 26 percent of de Earf's terrestriaw surface, whiwe feed crop production reqwires about a dird of aww arabwe wand. Expansion of grazing wand for wivestock is a key factor in deforestation, especiawwy in Latin America: some 70 percent of previouswy forested wand in de Amazon is used as pasture, and feed crops cover a warge part of de reminder. About 70 percent of aww grazing wand in dry areas is considered degraded, mostwy because of overgrazing, compaction and erosion attributabwe to wivestock activity.

Grazing is beneficiaw to de ecosystem[citation needed]. It is advantageous towards de soiw and grasses, promoting nutrient dense soiw and stimuwating de growf of pwant varieties[citation needed]. Through grazing, wivestock encourages pwant growf, conseqwentwy increasing forage production[citation needed]. Furdermore, de animaw’s urine and feces "recycwe nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and oder pwant nutrients and return dem to de soiw".[29] It awso acts as rations for insects and organisms found widin de soiw. These organisms “aid in carbon seqwestration and water fiwtration”.[29] Nutrients and organisms, aww of which are necessary for soiw to be prosperous and capabwe for production, uh-hah-hah-hah.

Grazing awso hewps to promote de growf of native pwants and grasses[citation needed]. Often, dese indigenous pwants are not abwe to compete wif de surrounding pwants dat utiwize de majority of water and nutrients[citation needed]. By wivestock grazing, de non-native grasses are controwwed and de native pwants can redevewop. As weww as using grazing to increase pwant growf, de actuaw hoof action of de wivestock awso promotes growf[citation needed]. The trampwing hewps to imbed de seeds into de soiw so dat de pwants and grasses can continue to germinate[citation needed]. Additionawwy, management in many parks makes use of grazing to hewp wower fire hazards by reducing de amount of potentiaw fuew, such as warge buiwdups of forage. When de wand is not grazed, dead grasses accumuwate. These dead grasses are often a warge fire hazard in de summer monds. On de oder hand, grazing can awso awwow for "accumuwation of witter (horizontaw residue)"[30] hewping to ewiminate soiw erosion, uh-hah-hah-hah. Soiw erosion is important to minimize because wif de soiw erosion comes a woss of nutrients and de topsoiw. Aww of which are important in de regrowf of vegetation, uh-hah-hah-hah.

Grazing may promote biodiversity[citation needed]. Many species are dependent on ranch wands and grazing animaws to maintain deir habitat[citation needed]. The grasses dat are stimuwated drough grazing provide a habitat for many species. When de wand is weft unattended or is not grazed, grasses die wif de seasons and accumuwate as witter on de ground[citation needed]. For many birds, dis is not attractive and dey avoid making a nesting area of it. However, when de grass is grazed, de dead witter grass is reduced and awwows for de birds to utiwize it, whiwe at de same time de wivestock benefit.[31] Just as importantwy, it increases species richness. When grazing is not used, many of de same grasses grow, for exampwe, brome and bwuegrass, conseqwentwy creating a monocuwture.

In Norf American tawwgrass prairies, diversity and productivity are controwwed to a warge extent by nitrogen avaiwabiwity…Nitrogen avaiwabiwity in prairies was driven by interactions between freqwency of fires and grazing by warge herbivores…Spring fires enhance growf of certain grasses, and herbivores such as bison preferentiawwy graze dese grasses, keeping a system of checks and bawances working properwy, and awwowing many pwant species to fwourish.[32]

Appropriate wand use and grazing management techniqwes need to bawance maintaining forage and wivestock production, whiwe stiww maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services.[33][34] Through de utiwization of grazing systems and making sure to awwow proper recovery periods for regrowf, bof de wivestock and ecosystem benefit. Awong wif recovery periods, producers can keep a wow density on a pasture, so as not to overgraze. Controwwed burning of de wand can be vawuabwe in de regrowf of indigenous pwants, and new wush growf. Awdough grazing can be probwematic for de ecosystem, weww-managed grazing techniqwes can reverse damage and improve de wand.

On commons in Engwand and Wawes, rights of pasture and pannage for each commoner are tightwy defined by number and type of animaw, and by de time of year when certain rights couwd be exercised. For exampwe, de occupier of a particuwar cottage might be awwowed to graze fifteen cattwe, four horses, ponies or donkeys, and fifty geese, whiwst de numbers awwowed for deir neighbours wouwd probabwy be different. On some commons (such as de New Forest and adjoining commons), de rights are not wimited by numbers, and instead a marking fee is paid each year for each animaw turned out.[35] However, if excessive use was made of de common, for exampwe, in overgrazing, a common wouwd be stinted,[36] dat is, a wimit wouwd be put on de number of animaws each commoner was awwowed to graze. These reguwations were responsive to demographic and economic pressure. Thus rader dan wet a common become degraded, access was restricted even furder.